Investigating the Prevalence of Reactive Online Searching in the COVID-19 Pandemic: Infoveillance Study

• DOI: 10.2196/19791
• Publication Date: 2020-08-27T15:26:17Z
• Authors: Rafael A Badell-Grau; Jordan Patrick Cuff; Brendan P Kelly; Helen Waller-Evans; Emyr Lloyd-Evans
• Keywords: Misinformation; Pandemic; Global Health

Background The ongoing pandemic has placed an unprecedented strain on global society, health care, governments, and mass media. Public dissemination of government policies, medical interventions, misinformation been remarkably rapid largely unregulated during the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in increased misinterpretations, miscommunication, public panic. Being first full-scale digital age, presented novel challenges pertinent to advice, spread news misinformation, trade-off between accessibility science premature use unproven interventions. Objective This study aims assess internet search terms relating information identify which were most used six affected countries, investigate any temporal trends likely propagators key terms, determine correlation per capita cases deaths with adoption these each countries. Methods uses relative volume data extracted from Google Trends for linked alongside case mortality European Open Data Portal dynamics countries (Australia, Germany, Italy, Spain, United Kingdom, States). A analysis was carried out ascertain term rise disease cases. Results Of selected searched immediately following promotion by figures, or viral circulation information, but also relation publication scientific resources, sometimes misinterpreted before further dissemination. Strong correlations identified COVID-19–related (overall mean Spearman rho 0.753, SD 0.158), (mean 0.690, 0.168) 0.800, 0.112). Conclusions These findings illustrate rate consumption a care crisis. positive online searching, particularly lower testing rates, may demonstrate imperative safeguard official communications dispel Online news, briefings, social media provide powerful tool important pandemics, their misuse presentation misrepresented should be monitored, minimized, addressed safety. Ultimately, authorities, scientists have moral truth maintain accessible discourse limit fear.